1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to media programming for consumer entertainment and to the provision of entertainment programming as a medium for marketing goods and services to consumers.
2. Background of the Invention
1. Television Industry Overview
In the early years of television, networks sold entire blocks of airtime to corporate sponsors, who in turn assumed responsibility for covering all costs associated with producing a desired program to be aired during a sponsor's purchased time slot. Typically, advertising agencies were brokers through which sponsors and networks negotiated programming details such as sponsorship pricing and the selection of a time slot (i.e., day and time that the program would be aired), the program's subject matter, and which actors were to star in the program. In return for sponsorship, television programs were named after the respective sponsor (e.g., “Admiral Broadway Revue” and “Texaco Star Theater”) to improve a sponsor's brand recognition and marketability amongst a national viewing audience.
Continuing into the 1950's, television programs were live broadcasts that were aired only once to the viewing public. Unlike movies, which were carefully scripted and created over periods of months or even years, television programs were created much more quickly as daily or weekly episodes. Live broadcasts were associated with a sense of excitement and cache that attracted viewers, and accordingly, television networks did not believe that viewers would be interested in seeing re-broadcasts of filmed television programs. However, beginning with the filming of the “I Love Lucy” show (which apparently was filmed only because its stars, Desi Arnez and Lucille Ball, desired to reside in Los Angeles despite that “live” television cameras and broadcast transmitters were available only in New York at the time), a market began to develop for re-broadcasting taped television programs and eventually blossomed into syndicated television programming.
As television became a more established medium for entertainment in the late 1950's, actors' salaries and television production costs continued rising to a level for which fewer sponsors desired to cover the entire expense associated with a program. At the same time, to fill “dead air time” when no sponsored program was scheduled, networks began producing programs that had no sponsorship at all, with the hopes of creating viewer interest that would attract an advertising sponsor in the future. In 1960, television network NBC created a “magazine show” format in which multiple advertisers shared the costs of sponsoring a specific television program. Instead of carrying the burden of sponsoring an entire show, advertisers purchased one or more 30 second breaks in time to air a commercial for marketing the sponsor. This format soon became the standard for network broadcast television, and aside from the “subscription” model provided by some cable television networks, it remains the predominate format for sponsorship of television programs today.
2. Overview of How Television Shows are Typically Produced by Television Networks
Present-day television programs are usually developed either by independent television production companies or by television networks themselves. An idea for a television program is usually generated by creators (“executive producers”) who, in the case of independent production companies, are represented by agents that sell the concept to networks or studios. In either case, the shows are “pitched” to networks to commission a “pilot” for the show to evaluate an initial script. Whether the pilot and any additional episodes are ever aired on a network depends in part upon the subjective opinions of network executives and the marketability of the television show concept amongst prospective viewers and advertising sponsors.
The costs of production and proceeds from a television show are respectively borne and distributed depending upon who is “producing” the program. Often, a television “studio” may pay the costs of producing a program for a network, including the creative writing and production staff, in return for receiving a license fee from the network for the right to air the show, along with a percentage of any potential syndication proceeds. The network then sells advertising spots during the television show with the expectation that advertising revenues will exceed the license fees and other network-related expenses. Unless negotiated otherwise, the network usually decides when to schedule the airing of the program and for how long the show will air.
3. Categories of Television Programming
Although television is continually exploring new and innovative themes and stories as an entertainment medium, the basic format of a television program traditionally has typically been associated with one of a few well-defined categories consisting of situational comedy, dramatic series, mystery, news and information/variety show. While the plot for some television programs successively develops and unfolds over course of different episodes (e.g., soap operas), other television programs explore a new story or situation in each succeeding episode that is experienced by a common cast of characters, with only an occasional reference back to earlier stories (e.g., situational comedy). In either case, the primary intention of the television network is to develop and grow a loyal viewing audience of interest to corporate advertising sponsors who pay for commercial breaks in programming.
As Americans become increasingly inundated by various types of entertainment media, entertainment providers strive to devise unique programming to capture the attentions of their audiences. For example, television networks recently have created “participation” programming themes in which non-actors participate in a show or members of the audience vote to determine the outcome of the program. For some television shows, networks additionally have sponsored Internet websites to provide a resource for viewers to learn about actors or review recaps of past episodes.
One type of participation programming that is currently popular among television networks is described as “reality-based” television programming, where non-actors are placed in a fabricated environment. Most reality-based shows offer publicity or prizes to lure participants into joining the show. The participants typically are then immersed in a competition in which they are willing to behave absurdly to win the valuable prize. Viewers also enjoy the novelty of watching “real” people and seeing how they react under a series of unique circumstances. Due to the competitive nature of the program, viewers are likely to stay tuned so they can see which contestant is leading the competition.
“Audience participation” shows featuring another type of participation-based television programming in which viewers are enabled to contact the television network via telephone to vote and assist in determining the direction that the show takes. Audience participation television programs typically involve a competition where the audience determines the winner. As with reality-based shows, viewers are enticed to watch every episode of audience participation shows in order to see who is leading the competition. These shows also draw in viewers because they feel significant to the show and have a responsibility to ensure that the most deserving contestant wins the prize. In a variation of this theme, the audience is able to assist a game-show contestant.
With the advent of the World Wide Web, some television networks provide internet websites to foster additional interest in certain television shows. Most commonly, such internet sites contain information such as program schedules, summaries of past episodes, and information about the actors, the writers, etc. These materials may be considered to be useful by viewers who are interested in learning more about a television show. By providing re-caps of prior shows, viewers can stay up-to-date with a storyline even if they miss an episode.
4. Other Forms of Sponsorship
There are other known forms of forms of media sponsorship or “sponsorship elements.” The term “sponsorship element” means marketing material that forms part of, or is superimposed on, broadcast program material and includes (but is not necessarily limited to) on-screen corner logos, opening and closing billboards, stings, squeezebacks, the on-air depiction of, or referral to, any brand, product or name, ribbons and crawls, naming rights, and product placements. “Product placement” refers to the depiction of, or a reference to, a product or service in material (other than an advertisement) broadcast, in visual and/or audio form, in respect of which the broadcaster and/or the producer of the material concerned receives payment or other valuable consideration, and which promotes the interests of any person, product or service.
5. Challenges Presently Encountered in Television Programming and Production
Similar to the problems in the television industry of the late 1950's as described above, actors' salaries and television production costs are continuing to rise, but now to a level at which sponsorship through television commercial breaks is often insufficient to cover the entire expenses associated with a program. As a result, it often is simply too expensive to risk producing a television show that involves new or untested themes and formats, since production of an unsuccessful program could bankrupt a studio and harm a network's image and profitability. At the same time, with increased competition from cable television stations and new broadcast networks, along with popularity of other entertainment diversions such as video games and continually-developing, Internet-based entertainment media, producers are pressured to continually create new and innovative types of entertainment programming to increase market share.
Traditional television advertising also faces technical challenges. New services like TiVo are being hailed as the “slayers” of traditional television commercials and mass-market branding. Such services provide “personal TV” that enables viewers to pause live television programming and watch what they want when they want, as so-called time-shift programming. Most significantly for advertisers is that personal TV enables viewers to skip commercials. The technology is so powerful that even if the early providers never win mainstream acceptance, traditional television advertising ultimately will be upended. Accordingly, there is a strong need for both new programming formats for consumer entertainment and improved methods and systems for commercial sponsorship of entertainment programming.
In response to these challenges, some have suggested increasing integration of advertising into media content. One approach has been a targeted advertising approach. In place of traditional commercials, personal TV services offer broadcasters new ways of reaching audiences by targeting individual households with specially-tailored commercials or sponsored programming, or by establishing interactive services or building brand identity through clever product placement. Personal TV technology provides an opportunity for advertisers to deliver a targeted message by storing consumers' particular viewing habits in hard drive memory that is embedded in each service's set-top box. The hard drive stores consumers' digitally recorded programs and the service's interactive program guides. Each night, the guides are automatically downloaded from the service's headquarters through a telephone or cable connection. This information can be used to target a household with advertisements that are believed to be relevant to the particular consumers who are watching (e.g., kayaking commercials instead of spots for computer equipment).
Some have suggested that the 1998 film The Truman Show was a prescient look at the future of advertising. The movie is a story of an always-running live TV show, similar to voyeuristic Web cams and reality programming like Survivor and Big Brother. In the film, actors and actresses on the “live TV show” tote products within the television show itself as scripted product placements intended to develop brand identity (e.g, actress holds up two cups of “Action Coffee” while wearing an “Action Coffee” apron). The show's producers rely upon such product placements for revenue because the concept of their show—which is to be aired 365 days a year, 24 hours a day—precludes commercial interruptions.